Persona: Double Wild Card
by Valkyrie Elysia
Summary: Awakened on a train with no memory of his past and thrust into a supernatural murder mystery, the only thing he knew for certain was that the answers he was looking for laid in the power of his Persona. P3 Hero in P4.
1. Beginnings on a Train

**V.E.: Once again, I must have gone temporarily crazy for starting up another new story with a lot of thought on it, but other stories on the rise that feel that they require my attention more. I never wanted to be those authors that have a bunch of stories going that they never update. It's like neglecting my own children. I really wanted to finish my stuff, but I need a change and the stuff I'm working on right now has no end in sight.**

**And I have been thinking about writing this story for a while now. The idea of the protagonist of Persona 3 interacting with the cast of Persona 4 is just too tempting of an idea. Including with a certain individual that shares a rather uncanny resemblance to him….(Rubbing hands while giving off an evil cackle). Let's just say I am planning for quite the **_**meeting **_**later on.**

**I'm going to try and blend some parts of the anime with the game. Hope I don't get too much flame for that.**

**Quote: "Trains, like time and tide, stop for no one."- Jules Verne (Considering that both games start off on a train along with this fic, I think it's an appropriate quote to begin this journey.)**

**NOTE: There is a pole on my profile that relates to this story. Please go check it out!**

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><p><em>Darkness. <em>

_Blank utter darkness._

_That was all he could truly feel, all he could really sense, other than the searing earth shattering pain that was pulling at his chest right now. There was also the pain like barbed wire that wrapped around his wrists and kept him from moving. Pain that he would have screamed at until his voice gave out, except it didn't seem he was capable of screaming. In fact, he wasn't even sure he had a mouth to scream with._

_They were constants to him, both the darkness and the pain. There was never one without the other. Whether he was dreaming or awake, this was his reality and he knew that it was his duty to bear it, even if the exact reason was a bit muddled in his memory._

_Then suddenly, without warning, the pain stopped. His chest lightened and the chains disappeared, sending him into a downward freefall. His senses braced to fall into the ground, to have what little left of himself to be destroyed completely upon reaching the bottom._

_However, he was surprised again as his falling slowed and strong arms caught him as he drifted slowly down. He instinctively nudged towards the being the arms belonged to, the comforting warmth relaxing him._

_Finally, a voice spoke, one that was strangely familiar to him yet he could not place where he heard it exactly. __**"There, you're free of the Seal."**_

_It was silent for a bit, as if the person who spoke was allowing him to catch his wits. Even so, he didn't quite understand what the man was talking about._

_An amused chuckled was heard and the being who held him spoke again. __**"That's alright. That is how it should be. In time, you will understand everything. Now, it's time to wake up."**_

_His thoughts were still confused as the familiar voice went on. __**"You have stayed here long enough, it is time to embark on a new journey. And perhaps at the end, you will not need to return to this place. Now, wake up."**_

_As the words were being spoken, his body felt a tug as if being called elsewhere. He conscious fade as he heard the voice speak one last time. __**"Wake up, Redeemer of Man."**_

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><p>His eyes blinked open before shutting quickly, the light hurting his eyes. Yet even as his eyes stayed closed he felt the faint movement of his body forward, the warmth of the sun aimed at him, and strangely familiar music playing in his ears.<p>

Silver gray eyes opened again, slowly this time and once they adjusted to the light he got a look at his surroundings.

He was on a train, sunlight streaming in from his window seat, music in his headphones playing as the trip continued on. He turned his head towards the sunlight, looking out the window at the rather picturesque countryside of wherever he was traveling in with one thought running through his head.

Along with getting a look at his surroundings, he also got a look at himself through the pale reflection off the window. The reflection was that of a teenage boy with soft blue hair that looked like he just rolled out of bed and silver gray eyes. He was wearing a light gray double-breasted jacket with something hanging down from a strap and dark pants along with earphones covering said part of the body like he never took them off. _Where am I? Matter of fact, who am I and what am I doing on a train?_

About a second after he thought that, a song seemed to start playing through his ears as he touched the earphones over them. _"I will burn my dread…"_

Without thinking, his right hand went to strange device (he was pretty sure it was mph3 player) and clicked a button that turned off the music. He pulled his headphones down to hang around his neck as he took a better look at the train.

It seemed to be like any ordinary train with standard space above for carry-ons and plastered with colorful advertisements, at least from what his brain seemed to think since he couldn't remember any prior experiences traveling this way. He was just about to go back to staring out the window before he noticed someone sitting directly across the aisle from him.

A teen just about his age with pale skin, short bowl-shaped gray hair, and was hunched over with his eyes closed. He was pretty sure if the teen sat up straight he would be rather tall, at the very least taller than him. The unknown boy was wearing a black jacket and gray turtleneck shirt along with black pants. On the overhead above him, was a carry-on bag along with a small shopping bag next

The amnesiac teen titled his head in interest. _Wonder what he's doing on this train by himself? And what are the chances he's in the same position as me? Somehow, I feel that's very unlikely._

He shifted himself to get a better sense of comfort when he heard something drop from the other side of his seat. Turning towards the sound, he finally noticed a bag next to him that looked perfect to be slung over his shoulder.

Then he turned his attention to the ground where a thick manila folder was somehow still altogether. The blue haired teen leaned over to pick it up, opening the folder as he went back to sitting regularly.

The first thing he saw was a picture of himself staring back at him paper clipped to a huge pile of forms. Flipping the picture off to the side, he scanned the first paper and zeroed in on the name printed there.

Makoto Yuki.

It was a nice name, yet for some reason it didn't quite sound right. He went on to skim the rest of documents, flipping through them with speed as he leaned back into his chair for a comfortable reading position. _Transfer forms along with my transcripts form a bunch of different schools …Medical history, spent a year in the hospital being treated for some problem they don't specify….Apparently I'm entering a school called Yasogami High for my third and final year of high school in countryside Yasoinaba…_

Yet even as he read the answers he had been asking for, something felt incredibly off about having it all in one file. Not to mention none of it really clicked with his nonexistent memory.

At the end of all the documents, a single yellow post it note was stuck inside the file. The boy peeled it off to get a better look at it.

Amagi Inn.

That was it; no phone number, no address. The teen refrained from groaning. _Whoever put this all together is not making things easy for me…_

It was at that time teen across from him woke up from the dream he was having out of breath, drawing the blue haired teen's attention to him. Dark gray eyes settled after a few minutes as he glanced out his own window. Then he turned to the side where the other teen was and with reaction the other couldn't have guessed.

The gray haired boy's eyes went wide again, staring at him and glancing at the rest of the car as if making sure he wasn't seeing things.

Makoto (he needed something to call himself, besides maybe after he got used to it some memories would come back) merely raised an eyebrow at the reaction. _What's with him? You'd think he'd seen a ghost or something. I mean, I'm pale but not that much…_

After one more look around the compartment, the gray haired boy opened his mouth to speak before being cut off by the train announcer.

"**Thank you for riding with us, in a few moments we will reach our final stop Yasoinaba Station. Please prepare to exit."**

Whatever the boy was going to say, he seemed to have changed his mind as he got up to get the bags above him.

Likewise, the other teen also got up and checked above him just in case he had something else left to him. Finding nothing, he simply swung the bag over his left shoulder as he held closed folder in his right hand with the post it note under his thumb. Now it was merely waiting for the train to stop as he followed where the boy was walking to the doors of the train car.

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><p><em>There is absolutely nothing here.<em>

Those were Makoto's first thoughts as he looked outside the train station and got his first impression of Inaba. It looked like a typical small town in the country with nothing that impressive about it.

He was pretty sure the gray haired boy that was right behind him thought the same thing before he was called over by man's voice. "Hey over here!"

Makoto saw the unnamed boy walking over to an older man with dark hair in a red tie, holding his jacket in one hand over his shoulder as he waved him over. Next to him was a little brown haired girl in ponytails and a pink and brown dress.

The blue haired teen glanced around, but it didn't seem like there was anyone there for him. Stretching his arms, he looked down at the post it note before looking up again. _Well, might as well walk around and stretch my legs. Then maybe I'll ask if anyone could tell where this place is. _

Walking down the steps, he head off to the left direction and passed the small group and a girl that was just walking up but he didn't pay that much attention to. He did vaguely see the man and the little girl walk in the same direction before the man turned his head to yell something at the gray haired boy, but by then Makoto was out of immediate hearing range.

Walking around at a slow pace was quiet, even when he had walked far enough to reach what looked to be the downtown shopping district. Affirming the quiet country notion, there were very few cars driving around with a noisy engines, in fact he was pretty sure he caught a bicycle or two going by. _Overall, looks to be a sleepy quiet town. Still, the question remains, why am I here?_

He stopped at the gas station, noticing the same man and girl from the station nearby a car that he was pretty sure passed him earlier on the road. _Might be the best time to start asking questions._

Walking over to the man, he spoke for the first time in what felt like awhile. "Umm, excuse me?"

The man looked at Makoto with a scrutinizing stare, but still pulled off a pleasant tone as he answered. "Yes, is there anything I can help with?"

Makoto held out the post it note to the man. "I've never been here before and I'm looking for the Amagi Inn. Do you have any idea of where it is?"

The man's face relaxed at the question as he pointed down the road. "Hard for anyone from around here not to know where it is. Go down the street until you reach the bus stop, get on and it should be just across the street at the third stop."

Makoto nodded his head towards the man. "Thank you."

The man smiled in return, calling out someone in the street. "No problem. How're you feeling? Ready to get back in the car?"

The gray haired teen walked up from the streets, looking a little pale but otherwise okay. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"All right, let's hit the road then."

The boy then noticed Makoto, who's eyes widened as Makoto backed away. "Don't mind me, thanks again for the directions."

Turning to go in the exact directions he was told, he walked on but before he reached the bus stop a feminine sounding voice called to him. "Hey, you!"

Makoto turned around to see a girl he was pretty sure he walked past. She had short black hair, green eyes and was wearing a sleeveless white shirt, a short black necktie and a checkered skirt along with a black belt, and a fancy, golden buckle that resembled a heart with wings along with red black striped protective sleeves. She looked rather unfriendly as she held out her hand. "This dropped out of your pocket."

He looked at her hand to see a cellphone with a pink strap attached with a cute little toy figurine hanging by a pink wire. It looked a bit girly with the strap, but he was pretty sure that it must have been his phone. Either way, it must have held some clue that he was looking for.

The blue haired teen took the phone out of the girl's hands. "Thanks."

The girl just shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever, all I did was just pick it up. Seems to be a habit of mine."

He looked at her questioningly, but all she did was walk away from him. Shrugging at her actions, he stuffed the phone with the strap into his pocket. Just before he turned to go back to walking, a flutter of movement caught his attention.

Not too far of where he was standing, there was a blue butterfly fluttering in the wind. It seemed like a rather odd thing to focus on, but strangely Makoto was pretty sure that he had seen it somewhere before. _Now if only I could remember where…_

HONK!

Quickly turning his head towards the sound, he saw the bus pull right up to the bus stop and open its doors to let several people off. He turned back to find the blue butterfly gone. _That's…very strange. Just when I think I got something, it's gone._

Then his body jolted with realization at what that sound was and sprinted towards the bus stop as it looked like the doors were about to close. "Hey, don't' go yet!"

His body sprinted as fast it could, the sight of the blue insect forgotten as he focused on the bus and the destination he was heading towards.

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><p><strong>V.E.: (looks over it) Well, I guess that's pretty okay for a starting chapter, I think. <strong>

**Please please review! I just hope there will be people actually reading this.**

**See you next time, hopefully.**


	2. The Amagi Inn

**V.E.: Oh boy, it's been over a month since I last updated this story and a bunch of stuff has happened or come up in my mind. I'm going to address some of those things right below here.**

**NOTE, READ THE STUFF BELOW HERE!**

**Update Schedule: As I hope you guys/girls noticed, I have other stories that need my attention and I tend to update in a cycle. I'm breaking this cycle this time, but expect a wait before you get the next chapter.**

**Poll: I've only gotten seven voters (which has made it a tie at the moment) when I know there are more people reading this. If you're a guest reviewer, I'll take your vote in your review. This poll will be open until Yukiko is rescued by the group. The question is, **_**who should I pair Yu with? **_**The choices are Yukiko, Rise, and Marie. I'll explain why I only chose these three along with my other two pairings for this fic at the end of the next chapter.**

**New Persona 5 Trailer: I got to admit, I went into this trailer with no expectations, but was completely blown away. I'm a little worried how the trailer only seemed to show four characters, but who knows, maybe they'll be more people who join the party later in the game. I have no idea what kind of message or mythology this game is going to be tackling, but I'm really curious. More than anything, I think is going to be a darker game than Persona 3 or 4. The only other I know is that Atlus is currently kicking Square Enix's but! (PG version of what I was really thinking.)**

**Now then, roll the quote and on with the show!**

**Quote: "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."- Edgar Allan Poe (This doesn't really ties back into this chapter, but overall I think it's a pretty cool quote.)**

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><p>Time was relative when it came to the Velvet Room.<p>

While time may march on for its guests in between visits, the inhabitants of the blue interdimensional plane did not feel the effects of the passing seasons. Instead, time was measured in the specific guests that visited and the form the Velvet Room would take on for them. After all, that was the place's purpose; to help their guest on his/her journey.

As such, while it may not have been for as long between visits as it would be for their guests, the residents of the Velvet Room were left waiting for periods of time for their guest to return.

Igor mused on this as he set up the next reading, while Margaret sat patiently to his left (quite the contrast between her younger siblings' behavior). Even though he had already read the cards for Yu Narukami (their new guest), there was very little else he could do in the blue limousine form that the Room had taken (other than indulge in the selection of alcohol which he would do later). Besides, even though performing his readings multiple times for the same person usually yielded the same results, there were times that some of the cards would change, signifying a change in the guest's situation.

He turned over the cards going in the same order that he done not so long ago for the future wielder of the Wild Card.

_The Tower, a terrible disaster imminent. The Moon, hesitation and mystery. _

The hunched man with an overly long nose merely nodded at the results. It didn't seem like there were any current changes in store for his new guest than what he had already seen.

He was just about to dismiss his cards when something his attention that he hadn't noticed before.

A lone card face down on the plush velvet blue carpet.

The proprietor of the Velvet Room stared at the card for a few moments, his outward expression unchanged but nonetheless rather surprised. He was sure he had counted all of his cards together, never having dropped his cards before.

And yet…didn't he know better than anyone that nothing in this room happened without a purpose?

Turning to his right side, the pointed eared gentleman bended down to pick up the card.

His action didn't escape the attention as the blonde young looking woman's expression showed some surprise. "Master?"

Igor's expression did not change as he flipped the card to face him. For the longest time, he just stared at the card in silence.

Margaret spoke again, her voice with a hint of worry. "Master, is there something wrong?"

He didn't take his eyes off the card. "Interesting, very interesting…"

Then he turned to his assistant, his smile a little bit larger than before. "It seems as if we are going to accommodate more than one guest this time around."

The platinum blonde woman's face lit up with surprise and confusion. "Another guest? Who is it?"

Igor chuckled before turning back to look at the card. "Who indeed?"

_The Fool._

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><p>When the bus had pulled up to the stop Makoto was supposed to get off, the blue haired teen was NOT in a good mood.<p>

After several minutes of trying every phone number (in which the letters for the names were replaced with strange symbols) he had in his address book TWICE, all of them had come as being 'no longer in service.' His potential lead shot down before it even began, he took one last look at the cell phone strap's little toy before shoving the phone back into his pocket.

The rest of the way there, he had taken another glance at the big file of documents. This time, he had taken a much in depth examination and examined the papers one at a time.

This approach had revealed a lot more details than the cursory glance he did on the train. Apparently, the reason he had moved around a lot was because his parents had died when he was young in car accident and he had been shuffled around between distant relatives ever since.

Makoto felt a bit mixed on this information. On the one hand, he felt a bit skeptical about how he had spent his life from home to home since he was about seven. _Am I really that difficult to deal with?_

But in regards to his parents…that felt right. Call it a gut feeling, but he was pretty sure that was one part of those files that was the genuine truth. There was a part of him that wished that he might have found a picture of them somewhere in the papers, but the only photo in the file was the one of himself. He gave a small sigh for his wishful thinking right before the bus pulled up to his stop.

After getting off and crossing the street, the blue haired teen finally took a good look at inn, not knowing what to expect.

The building in front of him had a traditional Japanese style, with about three or four floors (at least he was guessing it was). It looked very picturesque, like the quintessential Japanese inn. _Heck, maybe there's a hot springs to go with it._

Figuring that just standing right below the archway entrance wouldn't really move things along, he moved past the arch and opened the doors.

The inside of the inn was just as traditional Japanese style as the outside was, with a few touches. A lowered tile floor with above it a wooden floor with cushions and flowers in vases to welcome the guests, the straight path leading to the front desk. It was overseen by a woman who looked to be in her forties to fifties with black hair that was graying pinned into a neat low bun and glasses, in a pink kimono who seemed to be leaning over to write something down on some papers.

Makoto was about to speak up to get the woman's attention when she looked up with a tired expression. That expression changed to a friendly one as she called out to him, taking off her glasses. "Oh, welcome! Give me a minute, I'll be right with you."

The blue haired teen nodded, slipping off his shoes and carrying them on top of his file before stepping on to the wooden floor as he waited. When the older woman had put away the papers and her reading glasses and finally came over to greet him, he spoke calmly. "Hello, I'm..."

The woman smiled as she interrupted him. "Makoto Yuki, right?"

The teenager was somewhat taken aback by her forwardness, answering unsurely. "Yeah, that's me."

The older woman nodded and bowed slightly. "We've been expecting you, I was getting a bit worried whether you would make it today since you're supposed to start school tomorrow. I'm Sayoko Amagi, owner and manager of the Inn. Follow me please."

Makoto nodded and walked right behind the manager, the older woman chatting as she led on. "Your guardian made all the arrangements, though I don't know why he'd have you stay here in Inaba just to finish up high school. Most people who come here often have relatives to stay with. Your guardian mentioned you missed a lot school because an extended stay in the hospital, right?"

The blue haired teen nodded warily at the mention of a guardian, going with what the files had said for now. "Yeah, something like that."

The woman smiled as she went on before noticing and calling out to someone. "Well, I'm glad you'll staying here. You're the longest paid for guest we ever had. All of your stuff arrived here yesterday, I told the staff to leave it unpacked since I figured you would want to do it yourself. Oh, Yuki, come over here!"

A young girl came over from the right in a blue yukata. She looked right about Makoto's age, if not a bit younger. Long black hair, dark brown eyes, and gentle features; she looked at Sayoko Amagi as she waited for what the older woman had to say. "What is it Mom?"

Sayoko Amagi gestured to the blue haired teen and back to her daughter as she introduced them. "Yuki this Makoto Yuki, he's the boy I was telling you about earlier. Yuki-san, this is my daughter Yukiko. She's a second year at the high school you'll be going to so she'll walk there with you tomorrow."

The manager than turned to give complete focus to her daughter as she spoke next. "I'm going to be giving Yuki-san a tour, do you think you could watch the front desk until I get back?"

Yukiko nodded with a smile. "Of course."

Sayoko turned and motioned at the young man to follow her, which he did as they went off to the right. The two walked on for quite a bit while Amagi-san discussed the history of the inn and it's services. "This is a small inn, but it really works for this kind of a town. At the same time, it can be inconvenient when we don't have enough room during the busy season. Most of time, we have out of towners come for a business trip or a party so we the dining halls are used often. One of our biggest drawing points is our hot springs. Depending on the hour, one will be open to men and the other to women. Don't worry, there will a sign near them to tell whose turn it is."

The silver eyed teen nodded, taking in more of the Japanese décor. _Of course they have hot springs. __Probably should check them out later on. ._

The manger went on to ask something of him then. "Now, would you like your food brought to your room or do you want to use the dining halls with the other guests during the year?"

Makoto smiled tiredly as he answered her. "I don't mind the dining halls, but right now I just really want to get settled in and go to sleep. Could I just get to my room?"

Sayoko Amagi nodded in understanding as she gestured in the direction towards the elevator. "Of course, right this way."

The two walked on, but just as the older woman was about to push the elevator button, another woman that was the same as Yukiko's though more around the manager's age spoke to the woman in the pink kimono in a hurry. "Sayoko-san, thank goodness I've found you!"

Sayoko's eyebrows raised as she addressed her worker. "Kasai, what's the matter?"

"There seems to be a bit of a mix up in the kitchen, something about some of the orders getting swapped…"

The manager sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose before turning to Makoto. "I'll take care of it in a minute. Do you think you'll be able to find your room on your own, Yuki-san? It's on the next floor, Room 204."

The blue haired teen nodded. "I think I can manage that. And you can call me Makoto."

Sayoko Amagi nodded, pulling out a key card from one of her kimono's sleeves and handed it to the high school student. "Here's your key, if you need anything else don't hesitate to use the phone in your room."

Makoto nodded, grasping the keys in his hand (from the arm that wasn't holding the file and his shoes) and reaching over to push the elevator button. "Got it."

Sayoko spared one last smile for the new guest. "I'll check in on you in the morning. Have a good evening, Makoto-san."

She then turned and walked off with Kasai by her side, leaving Makoto to wait for the elevator to get there. It didn't take long for the telltale 'Ding!' and the doors to open revealing an empty elevator. Getting in and pushing the button with the label of **2**, Makoto shifted the things he was carrying to be more comfortable. When the doors did open onto the second floor, it seemed there was somebody waiting for it.

The person was a woman with short black hair and brown eyes along with lips tinged with red lipstick. She had a simple, but striking appearance with a white collar shirt, a black skirt, and black flats she seemed to have been tapping while waiting for the elevator.

She walked forward, bumping into the blue haired teen as she went towards the elevator and he walked out of it. "Excuse me."

Makoto nodded to her, turning to face her to do so. "It's okay."

She smiled at that before the doors closed, a light flashing above indicating she was going down to the first floor.

With that little encounter out of the way, the blue haired teen took a slow pace as he glanced at the room numbers to find his own. _200…202…here it is, 204!_

Quickly sliding in his key card, the door opened to a rather large room in the traditional Japanese style that he had seen throughout the inn. Aside from the room's décor (that included a large TV, a phone, and other things), there were several boxes laying around with a scissors laying on the table. _Must have been left by the staff for when I wanted to unpack._

Taking the scissors and leaving the file and his shoes on the table, he went over to the first box near him and sliced through the tape. He opened the box to find black school uniforms, on one side of the collar a pin for the Roman numeral three **III, **the other side seemed to have pin that was the school's symbol. _Must be my new school uniform, better lay it out for tomorrow._

Picking up the uniform and grabbing some hangers that were below it while leaving the scissors back with the opened box, Makoto walked over to the small closet that had opened just a crack. After hanging up all the hangers, he hung the uniform jackets and pants he had with still some hangers free.

Just as he was about to go back unpacking the boxes, he was interrupted by three rapid knocks on his door. Makoto made his way to the door and opened it to see who was there. "What is it?"

Standing there was a young girl that looked around Yukiko Amagi's age that was a little shorter, with pale skin, brown eyes, and hair that was a lighter blue than his which was braided and adorned with a hairclip of Chinese design. She was also wearing a light blue yukata that must have been the standard uniform for female workers at the inn. In one of her hands, was a plate with several rice balls on it.

She stood there for what seemed to be almost a minute in complete silence, staring at him. Then she handed him the plate which he took while she spoke in a monotone. "Here, the manager thought you might be hungry."

He nodded his head and kept his answer brief. "Thank you."

The girl nodded before she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him. "Also, you're going to be needing this."

Grabbing it with the hand unoccupied with the plate, the teen glanced down at the colored paper. It seemed to be a coupon for half off a ramen meal at a restaurant called Aiya's. He looked up from the coupon as he spoke. "Is this some kind of a promotion the Inn does?"

The girl shook her head before going on to explain in her less than excited voice. "I only work here at the Inn occasionally. My main part time job is at Aiya's, I do the deliveries. It's down in the Central Shopping District, you should stop by as soon as you get the chance."

"Do you advertise to everyone talk to?"

She shook her head before she turned to leave. "I can tell you're going to be a frequent customer. Name's Aika by the way. Have a good evening."

With that, she walked down the hall towards the stairs instead of the elevator. Makoto gave her one last glance before shutting the door, giving a small sigh. _And I thought I was weird._

Putting the things he received on the table next to the file and his shoes, he worked through the rice balls as he unpacked the rest of the boxes. As he went on unpacking, he noticed very few individual items as most of the stuff seemed to be the books for his new school along with his ordinary clothes that looked rather plain. There were a few persona items, such as a very good looking violin in its case and a few books (the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes and a few novels by Edogawa Rampo), but none of the things stirred something in its memory.

Just he was thinking that, he felt a yawn coming as he covered his mouth just as it was beginning. _It must be getting late. Better turn in._

With that resolve, he went to put on a white and blue striped pajamas. He then crawled into his futon where sleep immediately over took him as soon as he closed his eyes.

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><p><em>Fog. Endless fog.<em>

_Makoto had opened his eyes to this type of surreal dreamy like world. The only thing he could really see was the odd bricklike red path below him, all the rest of his surroundings were shrouded in fog. As for himself, he seemed to be dressed in his new school uniform._

_He got out from his kneeling position to look behind him, finding a dead drop in the red path. The only way to go, it seemed, was forward._

_Stepping about as carefully as he could, all he seemed to find walking forward was more fog. As far as he could see he was the only person that was in this strange world of continuous fog. He thought about opening his mouth to call out for someone, but his mouth would not open._

_He had walked for quite distance and had figured he was the only thing in this fog period, when a voice coming from nowhere spoke. __**"Do you seek the truth…?**_

_He had stopped moving as he waited to hear the voice again, unsure of whether it belonged to a man or woman, whether to a child or an old person. After a few seconds of no answer, he resumed walking on the red bricklike path._

_Once again, after he had walked a distance the voice spoke again, seemingly coming from somewhere ahead of him. __**"If it's truth you desire, come and find me..."**_

_This time the teen didn't pause, only walking straight until he came across a strange sight. In front of him, a square that had squares within it with a red and black pattern. He put his hand to the square, the middle square opened up as the other squares turned and opened with it to make a doorway. Without any hesitation, the blue haired teen stepped through the door._

_The area was still foggy, but at the center of the area he could see the shadow of a person's figure. He walked as quickly as he could, before stopping at a short distance from the shadow at the sound of the voice from before.__** "So…you are the extra player in this game…"**_

_The shadow's hand raised to give a snap, a wave of fog coming at him so fast he closed his eyes and braced for the impact. As soon as he felt the wave pass, he opened to his eyes that widened in surprise to find a short sword in his right hand and his left hand resting towards his pocket where a gun was._

_Before he had any time to process a thought about this, the shadowed figure spoke once more, with the blue haired teen unable to pinpoint anything specific about it. __**"Now…let's see what you are capable of…"**_

_Without much thought, Makoto proceeded to lunge his sword at the unknown person._

_It seemed to hit as he pulled back and the person commented again. __**"So…you can still see a little despite the fog? How interesting….just like him. Is it because the two of you share the same power?"**_

_Not knowing or really caring about what the person was saying, the teen took out his gun, but instead of pointing it at the figure he pointed the gun to his head. Pulling the trigger, he heard a strange sound as another shadowed figure emerged. But this figure didn't speak or do anything to him, rather it seemed to hit the other figure with something it was holding._

_Instead of sounding angry or hurt, the unknown person sounded almost amused. __**"Very interesting…even without your memory you still put up a fight…But you will not catch me so easily…If what you seek is the 'truth,' then your search will be even harder…"**_

_As the voice said this, a crackle of red light glowed, surrounding the area with even more fog. Now it was so think, the teen couldn't see anything. Nonetheless, he tried to stab the person once before, but it seemed that his sword didn't hit at all. He once again shot his head, summoning the shadowed figure from before, but even that didn't seem to connect to this unknown enemy._

_Feeling a bit tired, the unknown person spoke again as if pondering something aloud. __**"Everyone sees what they want to…and the fog only deepens….Will we meet again...at a place other than here…?**_

_The being gave a chuckle at the notion. __**"I look forward to it…Redeemer of Man…"**_

_And as soon as that statement finished, the teen felt himself losing consciousness and whiteness of the fog turned to black._

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><p>Shooting up where he had been sleeping and throwing the covers away from himself, Makoto Yuki woke up in a cold sweat and was gasping for breath, only moderately aware of the sound of rain outside and the clock in the corner that flashed <strong>6:30 am<strong>. _What…the hell…was that?!_

As soon as his breathing even out and a sense of calmness brought by waking up calmed him down, he looked at his hands which promptly turned his panic up again but a little bit higher.

On the light sheets that he had been laid out on before, his right hand was grasping the same short sword that had been his dreams while his left hand was right over the gun, which now that he looked at it was pretty unusual looking but familiar.

It was taking everything in Makoto not to descend into full on panic for waking up with weapons that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Those thoughts were interrupted by several sharp knocks on the door that made the blue haired teen's body jolt in surprise. He took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound as calm as possible. "What is it?"

It must have worked since the person knocking didn't seem to notice. "It's me, Yukiko. Umm…my mother sent me to tell you breakfast is ready in the dining halls. Would you like to join us?"

"Sure. Give me a minute to get dressed and I'll be right down."

"Okay."

As soon as he heard her walk away, Makoto looked down at the weapons again and sighed. _Okay, first I better stash these away where no one will find them. Then, I'll get dressed and head down to breakfast. And then after school, I'll figure out what I'm going to do with these things._

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><p><strong>V.E.: Great…over 4.2 thousand words. Why does writing always look simpler with a bare outline?<strong>

**This chapter was the result of much blood….sweat…tears…and Diet Coke. Can't ever forget the last one. So please, REVIEW!**

**I hope to see you all next chapter, where the first day of school begins.**

**I'm Valkyrie Elysia, I remember it so you don't have to! (in case you didn't notice, I like the Nostalgia Critic.)**


	3. First Day of School

**V.E.: Remember what I said earlier about having to wait for me to complete my cycle before this got updated again? YEAH….I'm kind of breaking my word on that.**

**To be honest, I've been kind of hitting some roadblocks in regards to my other stories so I decided to focus on doing this update instead. I'm probably going to get skewered alive by the fans of those other works, but honestly I don't want to write like I'm going to the dentist and no reader want to read that kind of work.**

**READ BELOW!**

**Polls: As an update to the polls, I've decided to also accept the people who vote in their reviews with an account than just guest reviewers. I've currently got over fifteen voters now, but it'll still be a while before a winner is decided. So if you haven't voted before please do so now in your review at the end of the chapter. Now because I am letting you guys vote on this, I expect you to take the results (whatever they are) like mature adults. If the person you don't like wins, please don't complain about it. Or at least to me, I'm just tallying the votes.**

**Now let's get the quote on and move on to our blue haired protagonist's first day at Yasogami High! **

**PS: I was writing this while I was writing my new chapter of Paradox, so this took a little longer.**

**Quote: "Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."- Muhammad Ali (I think this is a quote that could describe the Persona franchise, but that's just my opinion.) **

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><p>Walking to school for his first day in the rain, Makoto Yuki felt both somewhat comfortable and rather awkward by the complete silence as he walked to school with Yukiko Amagi right beside him.<p>

After stuffing the weapons he had woken up with into his closet and a rather hasty breakfast, the blue haired third year only had to wait a couple of minutes before the manager's daughter was ready to go. And since departing, Yukiko hadn't uttered a single word, leaving the only sounds to be heard was the fall of the rain.

Holding onto a navy blue umbrella that the girl's mother had given him (she said he was probably going to need it and it was a spare) and his school bag under his other arm, he was able to take a glance at the surrounding of where he was walking. True to the small country town appearance, he saw a lot of the rural surroundings and open roads that students were walking on. He was pretty sure he saw some of them in the same uniform as he and the quiet girl beside him and he was pretty sure he didn't imagine some of them throwing him glances and talking in low tone with each other.

Though somewhat irritated by the attention, Makoto supposed it was to be expected. Not only was he a new student, but he was a new student in a small town. It was the kind of place where everyone knew each other and were inclined to gossip quite frequently about anything of interest. A new arrival was just the sort of the thing, especially with the students of his school. More than anything, he was just resigned about it. _Maybe that file was right about moving around a lot and this is just me being used to it._

He probably would have continued the walk in relative until the black haired girl beside him finally decided to speak. "I'm…sorry…"

He turned to her, for the first time really getting a good look at her nervous face, a red jacket over her black school uniform, and the shifting stance as if she was wondering whether to stand closer or to stand farther away. He answered her questioningly. "What for?"

Yukiko seemed to look away, her embarrassment becoming much more obvious on her face. "I'm…not that good talking at talking to boys. Especially ones I don't know."

Makoto shrugged. "Don't be, it's actually nice to have a quiet walk to school."

His junior looked more than a little relieved with his words. "Oh….good."

The two went back to walking in utter silence, the rain letting up a bit as they went further down the path. It really was nice to have this kind of a quiet moment, in his opinion. Up until this point, he had been torn between wondering who he was and adjusting to his surroundings (He also had the chance to realize his core knowledge wasn't gone at all, it was just the things related to himself that were one big blank). It felt nice to just take a moment in, even if it was just walking to school in the rain.

"Umm…"

The blue haired teen turned back to Yukiko, who looked like she wanted to say something. He patiently waited until she finally did speak. "So, is this….your first time in the country? I mean, I heard you moved around a lot before the hospital…"

Having no concrete evidence to suggest otherwise, Makoto spoke to her straightly. "I think so…I honestly don't remember much about moving around. Don't really remember the hospital much either."

The black haired second year cringed, obviously thinking she had asked about something that was very touchy. "Oh….I see."

He made to put at her feelings at ease immediately. "Who knows? Either way, for what little I've seen, this seems like a nice place."

Yukiko nodded, a small smile on her face. "It really is. Of course, I could be biased since I've never really left Inaba, but its home."

Seeming to realize she had just spoken to a boy like it was nothing, her face reddened as she faced forward with embarrassment.

As the silence dragged on, Makoto sighed as he broke the silence he otherwise would have enjoyed. "Makoto."

She perked up at his voice, looking at him in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"You can call me Makoto. I can just imagine how weird it would be if you had to refer to me as Yuki-san considering your name."

Yukiko relaxed at that, her red embarrassment starting to fade a bit. "I see. Thank you, Makoto-san…oh wait! It's Makoto-sempai, right?"

He nodded, his eyes noticing the Roman Numeral III on his jacket before he went back to her. "Yeah, I guess so. Funny though, I don't really feel like a third year."

She nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean, it always feels so weird when you move up. Like you've just gotten used to being where you were and suddenly it's over."

Makoto shrugged at her words. "I guess that's just growing up."

"I guess you're right."

Yukiko turned her head, smiling as she came to a stop. "We're here, Yasogami High."

He looked forward, much like when he came to the inn not certain of what to expect. The school looked to be a moderate size, considering it was out in the country. Overall, it seemed a pretty standard three floor main building that was for classes and a two floor building that was probably used for clubs and the like.

Yukiko interrupted his thoughts. "I suppose it's pretty small compared to where you've been before."

Makoto shrugged. "It'll do."

The two resumed walking then, up through the school gates and right to the doors. Past that, was the common areas for shoe lockers and the stairs to get to the second and third floors. Several students seemed to be standing about, whether putting away their shoes or talking to friends. The inside pf the school looked about as standard to the teen as the outside had.

Yukiko stopped by one of the lockers, quickly changing her shoes as she spoke to him. "I better hurry to my class. Anything you'd like to ask me before I go?"

Makoto smiled as he found an empty locker of his own, slipping his outdoor shoes into it while slipping his indoor shoes from his bag. "Can you point out to where the faculty office is? I think I can take it from there."

Yukiko pointed to the right hallway before the stairs. "Go down that way, its the second door on the right."

He nodded to her thanks as he got up on the wooden floor with his bag by his side. "Thanks."

Yukiko called after him with a smile. "See you later….Makoto-sempai."

The blue haired teen smiled at bit at her good bye as he followed her instructions to the second door. He pushed it open, finding it to be organized clutter with having some spaces sectioned off (ne for each teacher he presumed) and every available space occupied with books, folders, papers, and some plants like a method of madness known only to the teachers.

Right in front of doorway of the office, he could see a familiar looking student talking to a man in a navy suit and a yellow tie that seemed a bit shorter than the student.

Makoto walked over, trying to get their attention. "Excuse me, I'm…"

The two turned to face him, giving him two surprises. The first was to find that the student was the same guy with the gray hair from yesterday, with Roman Numeral II on his jacket denoting him as Makoto's junior.

The second was what stopped Makoto in his tracks.

_Dear God, has he ever been to a dentist?! Forget just kids, that would scare the high school students he probably teaches!_

It didn't look like the teacher noticed as he began a tirade against the blue haired teen, his gray haired counterpart looking pretty tired of the man. "Shut your trap! Didn't your parents ever teach you not to interrupt a person when they're talking to someone? Sheesh, kids these days…"

Annoyed at the mention of his parents, he nonetheless kept his tone civil as he spoke again. "Sorry, sir. You see, I'm a transfer student and…"

That seemed to cause a bulging vein in the man's forehead, both teens shrinking back as his volume raised. "WHAT?! ANOTHER ONE?! That damn principal, dumping this on me with no warning! Honestly, I don't get paid enough for this! Bad enough I get one dropout from the city and now there are two of them! The class is going to be unbearable after this, especially the girls!"

The man went on, descending into a rant that seemed much more to the teen like the one you would keep inside your head (you know, the ones you wouldn't want to anyone to hear for more then one reason).

He leaned over to the gray haired student, his voice a very small whisper in comparison to the dentally challenged teacher. "Nice to see you again."

The younger teen seemed to be startled at being addressed, his eyes shifting as he answered. "Oh…yeah. Same here."

One of Makoto's eyebrows rose, wondering what was he so nervous about. He was pretty sure his appearance wasn't that unsettling. "What's the matter?"

The still unnamed boy didn't seem to want to talk about it. "It's...it's nothing."

Makoto stared at him, hoping for answer, but his attention was diverted back to the ranting teacher with a bob cut. "And here I thought I'd be able to whip the second years into proper shape! Its things like these that make my retirement seem farther than it is. Then again, if I retired, this school really would go straight to shit."

The blue haired teen seized upon a certain piece of information. _Second year? Guess he didn't take a good look at my uniform. I better clear this up. _"Excuse me, but I'm not a…"

The navy suited man pointed a finger in his face, his voice volume seemed to only be loud or louder. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY EARLIER ABOUT INTERRUPTING ME?! That's it! You're on my shit list, effective immediately! Don't think I won't suspend you for disrespect!"

Makoto sighed as the man ranted on. _And I thought our education system had problems already. How on earth did this guy get a job as a teacher?_

"Honestly, you kids think you have it SO hard. HA! In my day, we didn't have cellphones or the Internet. We actually WORKED hard for what we got, not goofing off. Why just the other day, I…!"

Before the teacher could go any further, he was interrupted by a woman's voice. "Mr. Mooroka."

The teacher snapped out of his rant as he addressed someone behind Makoto and the gray haired boy. "What?!"

"I believe that's quite enough. We want to welcome the new students, not scare them off."

Makoto turned around to find yet another strange sight greeting him. The speaker was a young woman in her twenties dressed formally enough, but was wearing an Egyptian headdress that stood out like a sore thumb and seemed to have been carrying a shepherd's crook. He honestly didn't know what to say to that. _Are all the teachers of this school going to be weird looking?_

It must have been a common occurrence for the male teacher as he spoke to her. "What do you want Ms. Sofue?"

Sofue spoke, her voice almost queen like which might have been influenced by her choice in headgear. "I simply wanted to give you a reminder from the principal to welcome Narukami-san to school properly."

She then turned to the blue haired student. "Also, I believe this one is mine. Makoto Yuki, right?"

Makoto nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"I thought so. I'm Ms. Sofue, I'm the homeroom teacher for Class 3-1, your homeroom starting from today. I also teach world history to the other classes and years."

_Gee, I wouldn't have guess. Your choice in headgear made it such a mystery._

Morooka seemed to realize what she was saying about Makoto. "What, a third year! Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

_You didn't exactly give me a chance to._

Ms. Sofue beckoned Makoto to go around Morooka's area. "I'll take it from here. My space is this way. If you would just follow me, Yuki-san."

Makoto nodded, moving past Narukami-san (probably his last name, the blue haired teenager thought) and followed the pharaoh lady to her space in the office. He vaguely heard the dentally challenged man ranting again with

She stopped at the desk and formally face him, her face looking friendly enough. "I apologize for my colleague. Mr. Morooka has his heart in the right place at times, but he tends to come off….rather strong. Anyway, do you have your records with you? Your guardian said you would be bringing them with you when you were enrolled here."

_There's that mysterious guardian of mine again. _Figuring it would seem weird if he asked her about it, he pulled out the files out of his bag. "Yeah, I have them right here."

The teacher seemed pleased, setting down her crook on her desk before taking the big folder that was in his hands. Flipping through the papers, she nodded as she took in the information. "I see….very good grades…you've lived in a lot of different places…"

The flipping stopped as her eyes seem to sadden at what she was reading. Makoto had a pretty good idea what she had found. _The information on my parent's death, no doubt. Somehow, I feel this has happened to me quite a few times._

Closing the folder as if there was nothing especially interesting and picking her crook up again, Ms. Sofue finally spoke. "I think that's enough for now. I'll be sure to take a more in depth look at it later, but right now we should really be heading to class."

Makoto followed her lead as the as they walked out of the faculty office. No one was in the school hall anymore as the two walked to the stairs. After climbing for less than a minute, the teacher and student arrived on the third floor. Following the teacher still, Makoto walked into a room with her and stopped as she did in front of a desk.

He simply wrote his name on the chalkboard (like it was a practiced habit) and then simply stood there as the standing students became seated and all of them becoming quiet as Ms. Sofue addressed the class before turning to him. "Good morning everyone. I'm Ms. Sofue, your new homeroom teacher starting from today. Considering I've had all of you in my class previously, I see no reason to introduce myself further. Before we get started, we have new transfer student. Please introduce yourself."

Makoto bowed to the class. "I'm Makoto Yuki, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Even with his head still bowed, he could feel the scrutiny of the entire class and hear what they were saying. "Wow, he's cute!"

"I don't know, he kind of looks bored."

"I knew the second years were getting a transfer, but I didn't know we were getting one too."

"I wonder why he came here. I mean, of all places?"

Before the muttering could get out of hand, Ms. Sofue spoke again and searching the class for open desks as Makoto came up from his bow. "Alright, that's quite enough. Now then, where should I…ah yes, Yuki-san please take your seat in the second row, the third chair from the window."

Makoto did as she ask, sitting down without much care for the stare of his classmates still being on him. He was the new kid, the oddity, and in a small town there were probably few of those. He gave it two to three weeks before they lost their interest in him.

The teacher then cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention as she spoke. "Alright, now I'm going to take roll so when I call your name, I want you to…"

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><p>"…And that is where we end for today. Normal lectures will resume tomorrow so be sure to get a head start on the material tonight."<p>

As soon as Ms. Sofue said those magic words, some students rose up out of their seats to chat with their friends while Makoto simply breathed a sigh of relief. _One day down, now I just have the rest of the year to get through. _

Just before he could get up from his desk and leave the classroom, the bell sounded as an announcement was heard from the school intercom. **"Attention, all teachers. Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classroom and are not to leave the school until further notice."**

The sound of the bells played again as the blue haired teen heard groans and talking between the students over the announcement, which he decidedly tuned out. Their teacher spoke to them as she was right in front of the door. "Please calm down. I'm sure waiting a little bit longer to get out of school will not ruin your day. Stay here until you hear otherwise."

With her piece said she left, leaving the students to their own devices. They probably would have continued talking aimlessly until the room heard police sirens going by. Turning his head to face the window as others were getting up to get a better look at a few police cars going by. _THAT does not sound like anything good._

Hearing similar sentiment expressed, but once gain tuned them out, Makoto was about to put on his headphones and pass the time with music when he heard a voice to his side. "Umm, Yuki-san right?"

He turned to find three of the boys standing there, the one in the middle wearing glasses looking at him expectantly. Overall, they looked rather generic that he wouldn't pick them out of a crowd. He answered, lowering his headphones. "Yes, do you need something?"

"You came to school with Amagi-san, right? Yukiko Amagi."

He nodded. "Yeah, what of it?"

The glasses continued the talk looking a bit fluster as the ones by his side seemed to be looking at him intently. "What…what's your relationship with Amagi-san? I mean, speaking as one classmate to another…"

Makoto where this was going and answered bluntly. "I'm staying at her family's inn for the year, her mother asked her to walk to me school. That's it."

Seemingly pleased by this information, the guy in the glasses went on. "Ah, so, you wouldn't know if she has a boyfriend or not?"

_Why do I feel like I've had this kind of conversation somewhere before? _"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

The boy on his right spoke up then. "Then you wouldn't have happened to have seen Mayumi Yamano there, did you? I heard from my buddy the other day she was staying at the Amagi Inn."

The blue haired teen's expression didn't change. "Who's that?"

All three of them looked shocked. "WHAT?!"

"You mean you don't know?"

"She's that TV announcer, the one that had an affair with a council secretary!"

He simply shrugged. "Sorry, doesn't ring any bells."

The three looked utterly disappointed. "Aw man, seriously?"

The guy on the left urged his friends away. "Come on, let's just leave him be."

He watched them go to the back of the classroom, putting distance between them. _So, I guess I'm only interesting as a source of gossip. My chances making of friends seems zilch to none._

It was at that point the bell sounded again as a second announcement was heard. **"Attention, all students. There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home. I repeat…"**

As the announcement did repeat, Makoto heard the student's murmuring over it until it ended. He stayed seated, clicking through his songs for a while. Not really feeling like listening to any of them for the walk home, Makoto got up out of his seat and walked to exit the class. He headed over to the stairs and was just about to go down when he saw a certain black haired girl coming up. "Yukiko-san?"

Yukiko seemed to brighten and stop where she was when he called her. "Oh, I'm glad I found you Makoto-sempai. I was wondering if you would want to walk home with me and a friend of mine, since we're going the same way."

Makoto shrugged his shoulders, seeing no reason to decline. "Sure, why not?"

He followed the younger student down the steps, uncaring by the curious stares of some of the students as they went. After getting down to the first floor and switching out their shoes, the two walked out the door were two students were waiting for them.

The first was a girl with short brown hair in a green jacket, wearing socks with her shoes instead of tights like Yukiko. In fact, she looked like quite the contrast next to Yukiko, but that didn't mean that was bad, Overall, she looked like someone who was pretty nice.

The second person wasn't even much of a surprise anymore, though it seemed to surprise Narukami. "You again?"

Makoto stopped, sighing softly. "This has been happening way too frequently to be a coincidence. I know it's a small town, but still…"

Yukiko and the brown haired girl looked at him as the former spoke up. "Oh, you two know each other?"

He shook his head at her question. "Not really, we've just run into each other a few times."

He stopped talking as the younger gray haired student offered his hand to him. "I'm Yu Narukami."

His senior hesitated before he began to offer his own hand. "Makoto Yuki."

The moment he grasped the Yu's hand, something in Makoto's mind…_dinged. _It was like a drop fell into the water, leaving a familiar ripple of sound behind. Something that felt on the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn't remember what it was for the life of him.

After the sound seemed to dissipate in his mind, he finally asked. "Hey…have we met somewhere before?"

The girls seemed surprised while if Narukami had any he hid it well. "You mean yesterday on the train or…?"

He shook his head, his soft blue hair moving with him. "No, no, before that."

The brown haired girl spoke up, getting the two's attention. "Hey, are you two having a moment or something?"

The two spoke in an almost monotone unison. "No."

That got the two glance at each other before resolutely looking in different directions.

Chie glanced between the two before introducing herself to Makoto. "Okay, well, I'm Chie Satonaka. You must be Makoto-sempai that Yukiko was talking about earlier."

Makoto nodded, the group starting to walk toward the school gates, himself walking on the farthest right of the side line they were walking in. "I guess you and Yukiko are friends?"

Yukiko also nodded, explaining their history. "Chie and I have been friends ever since we were kids. When I told her we had a transfer student, she's the one who suggested you come with us."

"Well, it's not often we get…."

"You're Yuki, right?"

The group of four turned forward and saw the person who had just interrupted Chie. He looked about Makoto's age, maybe older, wearing a different school uniform which was black with a green and orange emblem and a green tie. The boy had dishelmed hair, an ashen complexion, and a beauty mark under his left eye. But the thing that stuck out to Makoto the most were his eyes-pitch black with no visible pupils. Call it instinct, but he had an incredibly strong feeling to back away from him.

The boy spoke again, now that he had Yukiko's attention. "Y-you want to go hang out somewhere?"

The girl he was asking looked utterly confused at all this. "What? Wh-Who are you?"

The boy didn't seem to hear that as Makoto heard the voices from some of the boys behind him. "What's up with him? What school's he from?"

"Never mind that, he's going for Yukiko-san? Man, you'd think he'd at least wait until she's alone to make his move."

"I bet you a can of TaP he gets knocked out."

"No bet. Haven't you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is?"

It seemed like the weird young man had gotten tired of waiting for something as he spoke again. "Um, s-so…are you coming or not?"

Yukiko averted her eyes as she answered him. "I-I'm not going."

That seemed to not be what he wanted to hear. "Fine!"

With that one word said, he seemed to run away from the group and the school in anger. _Well, it's never fun to be rejected in public…Still, that was pretty weird. Not the weirdest I've had since coming here, but still weird._

Yukiko looked up to stare off where the unknown teen went. "Wh-What did he want from me?"

Makoto refrained from slapping himself. _She's seriously asking that? Then again, she might one of those people who are absolutely clueless about these kind of things._

Chie seemed to share his sentiment as she explained it to her best friend. "What did he want? Obviously, he was asking you out on a date."

That really seemed to surprise the black haired girl. "Huh? Really?"

Chie sighed before commenting on the encounter. "You really had no clue? Sheesh...But then again, that was way over the top. It was creepy how he called you Yuki all of a sudden."

"Well, in retrospect, he could have also been talking to Makoto-sempai."

Makoto shook his head. "I'm pretty sure a guy I don't know would just address me by my last name without an honorific."

The sound of bicycle squeaked up from behind them as another voice joined the discussion. "Yo, Yukiko-san. Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh?'

Makoto turned his head to the left to find a second year boy with a very old yellow bike. Short brown hair and eyes, with a determined jaw, the blue haired senior took special note of the headphones hanging around his neck before he realized the boy was speaking again. "Man, you're cruel. You got me the same way last year."

Yukiko spoke calmly. "I don't recall doing that."

That seemed to get the second year's hopes up. "Whoa, you serious? So then, you wanna hang out sometime?!"

The reply was swift and blunt. "I'd rather not."

Makoto watched the boy's head sag down in defeat. _Saw that one coming. _The brown haired kid raised his head as he got over it.

"That'll teach me to get my hopes up. Anyways, you two better not pick on the transfer students so much."

He mounted his bike and rode away, Chie calling after him in angry tone. "We're just curious, is all!"

Yukiko turned to both of the boys with an apologetic look. "Umm, I'm for dragging you two into this."

Yu didn't seem at all bothered. "It's fine really."

Makoto was about to say as much before he noticed quite the crowd that was gathering neat the gate. "Umm guys? Maybe we should hurry along…everyone's staring at us."

Chie nodded, noticing the same thing. "Yeah, let's go!"

Following her lead, the group hastily walked away from the school gate and on to the road.

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><p><strong>V.E.: I also wanted to do the crime scene this chapter, but I'm over five thousand words so I think that's enough for now.<strong>

**Well that's all for today and I…oh, wait I said I would explain the pairings this chapter. Better do that before I sign off.**

**First off, I don't hate any of these characters. In fact, the Persona series has some of the most likeable characters I've come in across in a video game in a while (Take note, Square Enix). So, please try and as be as understanding as you can about my choices.**

**For Minato, it wasn't that hard of a decision. As awesome as Fuuka, Mitsuru, and Aigis were, Yukari was just a no brainer. I know many people consider her annoying, but hear me out. To me, this was the pairing that had chemistry OUTSIDE of their Social Link. From Minato's first fight to the hospital to the Love Hotel to the scene on the beach, these two had some pretty good moments together. Also in **_**The Answer, **_**aside from Aigis, Yukari seems to be most impacted by Minato's death. If the two of them had been romantically involved before he died, it would make the most sense she would be acting this way.**

**(Note: You might note I'm calling Minato in the Author's Notes while calling him Makoto Yuki in the story. I'll leave you to guess why that is.)**

**As for Yu, I couldn't narrow it down one girl, so I opened up the poll for you guys to decide. So why those three? I liked Yukiko when I first saw her and I think her Social Link was pretty good. Plus, considering Yu is practically the opposite of her (having moved constantly), I think that would lead to some pretty interesting conversations between the two. Rise may be flirty, but she does genuinely care about Yu and her scenes with him the anime were actually pretty nice. As for Marie, anyone who has played the game to the end would understand the symbolism of Marie and Yu together. **

**For Chie, like I said I don't hate her. I just prefer her chemistry with Yosuke better. There will definitely some hints between these two which may develop into something further. **

**As for Naoto, I really do like her and I like how she's probably the only person to ask about Yu than just focus on her own problems. Let's just say I have some big plans for her in this story involving our certain blue haired protagonist….and no it's not a pairing! Once I said that, a few might have guessed what it is, but I'll explain my reasons when it's revealed in the story.**

**Well, with that out of the way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope to see you all soon!**


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